Do you suffer from bad luck?

James says on October 1st, 2007 at 9:48 am

Good article. I’ve written before, about making your own luck on my site, which I think is a good addition to the points made here.

lisia says on October 1st, 2007 at 10:29 am

I never believed things happened by luck. However, things that did happen to me I found myself blaming the other people for my failures. Not looking for a positive reaction. This article confirms I have shown growth in myself by changing my thoughts does help.

Eric says on October 1st, 2007 at 11:17 am

“Chance favors the prepared mind.” — Louis Pasteur

While many things are out of our control the possibility of turning a random event into a positive opportunity has to do with preparation.

Michael Blank says on October 1st, 2007 at 11:33 am

I have to disagree completely with the sentiment of this post. There are people who DO have worse luck than others and it is not something that they can control. Ask the people in New Orleans what bad luck is. Ask families in the Sudan what bad luck is.

Just because you recognize luck changes things for some people does not mean that you have no control. One of the basic elements of GTD is that you control nothing but your own actions. If you accept the responsability and the consequences for those actions, then you have as much control as any person can have.

KT says on October 1st, 2007 at 1:44 pm

@Michael Blank:

There is a difference between bad luck and choosing to live in a known hazard area (New Orleans)…and yes, I know some were too poor to move out of there. I’m not unsympathetic to their situation, but it is not bad luck to be hit by a hurricane in a hurricane-prone area that lies below sea level, it is inevitable.

Being born in an impoverished and/or conflict-ridden area (there are many all over the world) isn’t bad luck either, it is causal: sperm met egg. It is possible to get out of such a situation by changing one’s way of doing things. It isn’t easy and it isn’t “fair,” but staying in a bad area is, at a root level, a choice, not luck.

Hard work, good decisions made consistently, abstinence from terrible decisions, and the willingness to sacrifice in the short term to attain a longer term goal overcomes almost anything.

Bad luck is being struck by lightning from a clear blue sky…this has actually happened and I can’t imagine any way to classify it differently because it originates entirely outside of one’s sphere of influence…it would require foreknowledge of an exceptionally unlikely future to avoid.

Now will someone kindly analyze why jerks seem to get all the *good* luck? ;o)

Alexander Kjerulf says on October 2nd, 2007 at 3:26 am

The most fascinating work I’ve seen on luck is by the English professor Richard Wiseman (not a bad name for a scientist, btw) who has studied people who feel exceptionally lucky or unlucky.

He has found that lucky people and unlucky people have the same opportunities, but lucky people are more likely to exploit them because they:
1: Maximise Chance Opportunities

2: Listen to Lucky Hunches

3: Expect Good Fortune

4: Turn Bad Luck to Good

So his point is pretty much that you make your own luck by being open to the opportunities your circumstances hold.

More here:
http://www.luckfactor.co.uk/re.....actor.html

jazzie says on October 5th, 2007 at 5:03 pm

i disagree. you can have bad luck. things can repeatedly not work for you. things do not get better.

your article is shallow.

John Maberry says on October 12th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

There is no such thing as luck; it is a delusion we ascribe blame or credit to for the effects of the causes we make. It is no different that blaming the devil, the boss, the spouse, etc. When we take responsibility for our own lives, we make our own “luck.” The cause of being born poor or suffering a hurricane is not so easily seen; it may come from the karma of a previous lifetime. See “Credit or Blame” 9/29 post on http://www.views.eaglepeakpress.com

be says on October 17th, 2007 at 1:42 am

it’s kind of how a scientist can say rain comes from clouds. they might be correct but they might not understand exactly what made the cloud. i consider myself to be a very intelligent person. a very positive person as well. i’ve been making lemonade out of lemons for a very long time.

my life sucks. my luck sucks. it’s always sucked. i was born an unwanted child. my father treated me like i owed him everything because i would have been aborted. i didn’t recieve gift or celebrate my birthday or Christmas like my brother and sister. i didn’t get to go to college. i’ve been disabled. i have bad luck stories that do not break.
it’s actually very peculiar. it’s ridiculous. i know spirits exist that help shape the world around us. i do not believe our existance is purely based on personal ’spirit’ as some people believe.

I am an honest and compassionate person. more so than anyone i’ve every met or come to know. this is why i have bad luck.

there’s very little explaination you can tell me for why i have had continous retarded luck since i could remember. no. i’m not a defeatist. i’m more possitive then anyone i’ve ever met. if you live 2 months in my shows.. then you might realize how much fortitude i have had.

i’ve seen plenty of ‘possitive’ people break under the slightest bad instance.

screw u. =)

be says on October 17th, 2007 at 2:38 pm

ok. for the skeptics, i’ll go into a a little scenario. i had been pinching my pennies for some time, as i needed to buy a car an have enough money to pay my insurance and make any possible repairs. i wanted to make sure i had a deent safety net. the 1st car i buoght i lost before i could even drive it. (i didn’t have a license. i was working three jobs just paying my rent but i managed to save up enough money for a vehicle. i wound up being injured which caused me to lose my job, and i had a pile of medical bills and i lost my apartment and even though for the last 3-5 years, the landlady allowed two people to keep their cars there, in the short two month s when i was going through this trouble, she towed and impounded my car, and the other 2.) that wasn’t my story. my story goes.. i had been saving all my money.. having no frivolous expenses. for about 6 months i spent money on only food and rent. i saved up about 4,000 dollars. i should have afforded a decent 1st car but i was being very careful. well i hadn’t gone out in 6 months. (my life is so full of trouble, i figured protection was a necessity. i was right, thought i had several other troublesome issues with my health and what not, i didn’t have any major negative events occur to me, except for my health. A compressed disc in my neck had become aggravated and to this day.. is cause for continuous pain and fatigue. but anyway. i needed to have a bit social activity. i had already determine that my old friends were just spiritually against me. though i have been the best of friend to all who know me, these people we unknowingly active in undermining my prosperity and joy. i am correct. i did happen to find an old friend on-line when i was in search of finding a drummer to work on some music i had been writing. since i recognized the person, we had arranged to meet up. i was pushing for coffee at his place. but he insisted on meeting at a bar where he said his band would be playing.
i have not been to a bar in years since there is the possibility of trouble. reluctantly i agree to meeting him there. i arrived a little early, i didn’t see my friend. a really nice looking girl introduced herself, but i didn’t manifest my luck there. i wanted to avoid trouble so i brushed her off. a couple other girls introduced themselves too, as i was sitting alone. i brushed them off too as if i was not interested but the far bar tender did notice, and he was getting jealous. any way.. my friend showed up.. talked to me for about 3 minutes then went back to work… ahh, he didn’t explain he worked there. so i’m pretty much there for some time, and i already blew my shots with the girlies in there. well i didn’t blow it, i just didn’t get to capitalize on the opportunity. (the op had a point)

well anyway, there was a dude there and we got to talking. ( i had decided to wait it out till my old acquaintance could give me some information. i didn’t want to go home, as i lived in a bad neighborhood and i was unsure of the bus schedule. i was hoping my friend could give me a ride, or let me crash at his place. i admit it was a little unplanned and off the cuff, but at worst i could opt to staying up all night and getting a bus in the morning. i do with little, so this was nothing too stringent.)

well, the guy i was with was drunk off his ass and he decides to go home and he falls down as he’s putting on his jacket. he bought me my last 3 beers as i was not looking to spend money or get drunk. 3 beers in about one and a half hours is not a problem. so this guy is leaving and he’s going to drive home very drunk. i follow him out so as to stop him. i don’t leave my beer on the counter as it is full, and i don’t want my bad luck to manifest itself in someone putting something in my drink. besides, it seemed to me to promote a related atmosphere and i had to convince this guy not to drive without seeming threatening. well i got him to stop for a little bit. then a cop is driving by and this drunk idiot felt it important to point at him as he was driving by. this because i had a beer outside the bar. i know how to hide a beer, but this drunk guy was very projective when he was pointing to the cop and exclaim.. ‘duuuude, there’s a cop.. then pointing the beer i had in my jacket, then back to the cop and looking scared. whatever. the cop stopped. he still didn’t see the beer but he saw something was up. this drunk guy has his big jangle of keys in his hand and this cop get’s out of his car and walks over to us. as he’s doing this.. i take a purposeful swig from the beer in my hand. i figure.. i get a ticket where as this person whom i was detaining would get serious charges if arrested for driving. ok, the officer is pays no attention to the guy with his keys still in his hands and obviously drunk. i’m told to put my beer inside.
i do. the fat bar tender is furious. and he’s yelling at me and pushing me around. i asked him to refrain from pushing me, and go outside. (i have torn a/c tendon in my knee and other torn things. it’s very wobbly. very easy to injury my self if someone is violently pushing me.)

ok, the cop is giving me a ticket blah blah blah. i then ask if i can tell the person i came to see what had happened. (remember, i was looking to ask him if i can stay at his place. or get a ride. there was no bus at this hour.) the fat bar tender tells me to beat it. and again puts his hands on me pushing me. i think it’s outrageous. how does someone put their hands on another person and assume it is ok? i step back, and tell the guy to get his f@#$’n hands off me. i stepped away from him. the cop turns to me, tells me to put my hands on his car and arrests me. i say, ‘what the hell?’ so the cop put the handcuffs on so tight, it cut off my circulation in my hand and was extremely extremely painful. the hand cuffs were so tight, they were unable to take em off, and they were going to cut them off. i was in such pain for about 40 minutes, with these on and said, ‘try harder to get them off’. it took 4 large men to squeeze down on the handcuffs and turn the key to get them off. my hand was blue and i had a brown scar around my wrist for a year and a half. after seven or eight canceled court dates, (all of which each time, i would have to catch a bus to an outside suburb, and sleep in the woods. there were no return buses at that hour. i spent a couple nights in the rain, and one in the snow.) i did not have a lawyer, since i did not understand how corrupt the united states court system is. i understood that i was completely innocent and that there should be no way to be convicted of a crime i didn’t do. i was wrong. both the cop and the bar tender lied. no only this,, both there stories contradicted each other. one guy said i was on the stairs fighting with this guy, the other said i was in the doorway, trying to squeeze pass him. the truth was i was on the side walk. i had explain how my knee which pivots and wobbles out of joint something which would make any confrontation on stair to be a ridiculous thing. any confrontation at all is dangerous. i have to walk with care. i explained how i was a victim, and the judge agreed with me. he said i certainly was, but the prosecutor asked me, if i made contact with the victim. i said no. then he sharply reiterates, ‘AT NO TIME DID YOU HAVE CONTACT WITH THE VICTIM!?

i said, ‘well i guess when HE made contact with me, we had contact.’

he said no further questions. seeming quite relaxed and confident. this evil bastard.
the judge then announced ‘guilty on all charges’.

then i said ‘omg, i didn’t do anything.’

then he charged me contempt of court 850$ fine.
then i said, ‘omg’ then he smacked his gavel again. 350$ fine.

In total i had 3850.00 in fines and 1 month jail time.

it gets worse, but you get the point.

this scenario is perpetual. like, i finally got a car, and i parked it between a handicap zone and a corner. the corner is painted yellow with a sign, no parking from here to corner. the handicap zone is painted blue.
inbetween there is room for 1 small car.

they towed me. 250 ticket, 230$ tow.

i paid the tow. then i get my windows, (both of them) smashed. and someone stole my radio and cd’s and tried to hotwire my car. my clogged fuel filter prevented them from succeeding, but anyway. i need to go to work. i don’t fix the windows. i get towed again. 250$ ticket, parking on sidewalk. i didn’t park on the sidewalk. 230$ tow. this is in 1 week.

what is involved is demons. the judge, the cop, the prosecutor, the bar tender. these people were all inspired by a demonic spirits. i didn’t do anything to anyone. but they felt it most important to destroy me. every employer i have had has cheated me on wages. all my co-workers have been dishonest and evil. i only intend to do my job. i do everything well.

when i was 12, i had an iq test and i had 167/200. even this was robbed from me. the lady whom administered the test knew me from adam, but she became irritated and angry with me. she scolded me for about an hour 1/2. i was a very insecure child, pretty much abused by my sister, brother, mother and father, and living in a rags in a rich suburb. after she had made me extremely uneasy, she administered a 2nd test. much of the timed test was spent arguing. it was ridiculous. she with all intent had caused me to score much lower on my 2nd test. 120. which is considered the high end of average. she was supposed to take the average of both tests which she explained to me but said she would not do it. she was also supposed to administer a third test because the difference was so high. she didn’t. 167 iq would have given me a special education. i would have probably been offered free college at the age of 12.

blah blah blha

robertd says on October 27th, 2007 at 3:35 am

“Stop believing that what happens in your life is down to the vagaries of luck, destiny, supernatural forces, malevolent other people, or anything else outside your self.”

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY TO WHO EVER WROTE THIS ID.OTIC ARTICLE, ALL YOU KNOW IN YOUR LIFE IS WHAT OTHER ID.OTS THOUGT YOU YEARS BEFORE, AND THEM, AND SO ON. IF YOU HAD SOME INTELIGENCE IN YOU, AND KNEW WHAT 50-50 IS, your opinion would be different “it is something to do with mathematics which looks like you have no idea about, but you still managed to get a degree” All intelligent people that have a problem similar to mine of seeing the probability something going wrong, THAT IS TOTALLY OUT OF YOUR CONTOROL FROM 50-50 TO 10-100 “for your information this means 10 out of 100 possibilities or 1-10 percentage wise, this means exactly the same thing”
THANK EVIL IT’S NOT 1 OUT OF 100, I AM STILL ALIFE AFTER GOING DOWN TO 1 OUT OF 10, believe me if there was 10 bridges to chose from and only one will collapse, hello there goes Robert down for a swim.
And yes, I have a proof, after years of bul-sh.. it happens to a point I break down. But that is another story. Lets see if this gets posted first. It seems like everybody that read this idi.tic article was pretty polite to the author, here is what I have to say, f u ..

robertd says on October 29th, 2007 at 2:44 am

sorry i met taught not thought, damn i was mad after i read that nonsense, which aplies to simple people with IQ of 110 or less. We people with IQ above 140 are different and unique and that is why something evil fu..s with us to push us to the edge.
I do not believe in god, but definitely there is something greater than us, good and evil, you could call it a god and devil if you want. God has no need for suiciders’ soul ‘ if one exists ‘ on the other hand the devil can’t get enough.
THINK ABOUT THAT!
30 seconds before posting power went out, yes my computer blacked out, so you are reading the second version now, I don’t get upset anymore I am safe, good luck I hope you’re safe too.

Rashine says on December 2nd, 2007 at 1:22 am

I have a sweater that is really nice, but every time i seem to wear it. Something bad happeneds. I stopped wearing for over a year, and now I want to see if anything would happen if I wear it again. Is this just happening like that or is it really bad luck?

ildiko romvari says on December 7th, 2007 at 3:35 pm

“”Are they luckier than the others? Of course not. Luck is random—that’s what chance means—so they are just as likely to suffer setbacks as anyone else.”"

PLEASE ,PLEASE TAKE THIS BACK, GIVE US DIGNITY….
You really don’t know what are you saying!
You just don’t have enough information. You must get out there and see ,what I mean. Thanks for letting me to say this…

Nikolas says on December 20th, 2007 at 6:24 pm

life sucks for some of us,and we just cant do nothing….
suffering for some is a rutine and the solution is death……

Bhaskar says on February 4th, 2008 at 11:06 am

My life has been pretty depressing too. But somehow I still want to live, inspite of the seemingly never-ending bad luck.
As I continued to try to make things work, life has improved. After years of doing nothing and living with parents, I am finally doing something good for myself without worying about luck. If things go bad - I say to myself “that way expected” and try to move on.
And I am getting encouraging results…nothing like earning your money and being free after years of living at the mercy of others.

@be
You are a brave person.

mimi says on February 29th, 2008 at 2:36 pm

So has mine..I recenlty graduated and I had an accident right after my graduation but well I did survive. I did get hired by some crappy company but got fired the very first week because everyone was white and racist of course as they kept pointing out my race.
Then I went ahead and worked at some crappy place to pay off my car and bills but people labelled me as an illegal and swore at me. And here I’m 4 months after graduation working at the crappy place hearing people call me names and an illegal. And believe it or not I’m not an illegal but just a different race.

rash says on March 17th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

my life sucks. my luck sucks. it’s always sucked.please help me

jorge says on May 28th, 2008 at 10:13 am

thats a lie.. if i make my own luck then i asked to fall down the stairs and break my ankle and i asked to get a rash from my pillow that has now scarred me for the rest of my life because i used the wrong cream on it and i also asked for my brothers law firm to crash so now his whole family is living with me and i have to support them financially and this is just in the past month..

joe says on June 30th, 2008 at 9:46 am

Some people are lucky and some people are unlucky. I have had 15 years of bad luck and it keeps going . Being nice to my family destroyed me. I took care of my mother for 15 years . My family did not help at all. I was working days come home at noon to cook for my mom give her her meds and go back to work .
come home after work prepare food and meds again. give her a bath . Also i was taking days off to take her to doctors and hospital.
For fifteen years i burned the candle on both side. I loved my mother please dont take me wrong. But i felt alone we are 5 kids i was the only one there to help. The rest of them wanted to put her in the nursing home and she never wanted that. So last chrismas mom at 96 ended up in the hospital and they sent her home and i arranged hospice in my house and took a couple months off to stay with her and keep her comfortable to the last minute .
On feb 1st at 8.20 am Mom passed away peacefuly . It was a big loss for me i am still not recovered and feel so alone without her in my life. So i wasted 15 years of my life doing nothing but working hard days and nights so mom is happy and healthy.
I am 58 years old now i look back and say what did i do with my life? nothing. I gave my mom 15 years of my life . Now i am alone and in debts i am going to lose my house .
My health is deteriorating nothing is coming my way. All my friends left me no one wants any thing to do with me because i am poor and dont have anymore money. I live from check to check and allways behind on my bills. I prayed for help from my mom . But who knows where she is now. I am so alone and in debts up to my neck. All that because i took money on my house in order to pay moms medical bills and give her what ever she wished from food and comfort. My 3 sisters and on brother
showed up at the funeral putting on an act like you never beleive. When i asked them to help pay for the funeral they all desapeared.
So now i have another $14,000.00 to pay.
All this because i was good to my mother.
All this because i was a good son.
Here i denied God himself or helself.
I brought it to myself ? yes. Because i couldnt see my mom in the nursing home. They could have killed her in one year and made her suffer. Oh well. talking about luck?
what luck? I beleive Most of the jerks are lucky the people who do not care but for themselves the ones who are selfish and more.
I am not that type of a person. Sorry i cant help it . Now i deciede to just go on with my life. AND I PRAY THAT I GO IN MY SLEEP. I JUST WANT TO GO I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS LIFE
WORKING MY A….S OFF JUST TO GET BY IN LIFE IS NOT A LIFE. I SEE PEOPLE WHO NEVER WORK LIVING BETTER THAN I. LIKE DRUG DEALERS AND MANY OTHER BAD PEOPLE LIVING ON WELFARE. THEY ARE LIVING BETTER THAN US.
BAD LUCK? LUCK? F IT ALL.
I AM TIRED AND I WANT TO GO.

jizzy310 says on July 6th, 2008 at 7:07 pm

With all due respect..you are full of shit. Luck is NOT random, forces are at work, and it’s not all in the victims head.